Art, music, and nature

More Deer Hunting

I have been a “slacker” with my blog in recent days. Last week on January 5, my cousin Donnie Smail and I spent some quality time afield in pursuit of white-tail chasing. Donnie and I were out of deer tags so we were “dogging” for my step-father Bob. (Donnie and I are as close as being brothers as one can be without actually being bros. Our fathers were brothers and our mothers were sisters.) That is important information to know, but, I don’t know why. Don’t let this information out, but, I kind of like him. Bob, on the other hand, finds much difficulty dealing with the two of us as we harass him throughout our time together.

The second deer drive moved deer towards Bob. The deer raced past him and he couldn’t get a shot. The third drive produced some deer movement past him. These deer , also, were in high gear. Needless to say, Bob urged us to slow the deer down in the future. We stopped hunting around noon.

Today, January 10, Bob and I braved the 10 degree temperature to seek some deer activity. The early walk along a gas road revealed some deer tracks. That looked promising! We approached a field’s edge and were blessed to see a flock of wild turkeys already feasting on acorns from bordering oak trees. The flock of 12-15 birds erupted into the air sailing for the hollow. We would occasionally see a bird as we hunted the area.

The morning was witnessed by windless time. The softly falling snow created a peaceful solitude I crave to be part of. The problems of life seem small with the natural world enveloped in such a scenario…. Beautiful time afield!

The first drive, produced some deer past Bob. He saw two deer sneaking along out of range. We walked around together with more deer sightings. I peered over the edge of the hill watching three deer feeding along. I saw a couple of fox squirrels too.

The remainder of the morning saw a few deer, however, none of which went past Bob. As noon approached, Bob and I began a trek towards his truck. We met and old friend and classmate, Ed Orr. We talked awhile before separating and heading towards home. Later from the pick up, I noticed 5 deer feeding. We watched them for a bit before heading home.